05 April 2010

Why Did I Get Married, Too?

The wife and I went to see this movie on Sunday morning. We both loved the original. I thought a sequel seemed like a terrible idea. But, I trusted Tyler Perry to not destroy what he had built. So, we saw it. It blew me away. The original covered common ground. Each couple had secrets and dirty laundry. The laundry got aired out in a memorable dinner table scene. At the end of the first movie, the characters faced their conflicts and changed accordingly, or suffered the consequences. I did not understand why a sequel was needed.

Simple, Tyler Perry had other grounds to cover. I could not believe where the beloved characters from the first film went. They went into some dark places. They went into some heavy places. Yet, like the original, all the characters either changed or suffered from the conflicts. I felt bad for all of them at some point in the film. That made the film interesting. Since we already knew the characters from the previous film, he was able to cover so much in 2 hours. There was a hint at infidelity between a few couples, a divorce that got ugly, and trust issues among them all.

As a twice laid-off worker this past year, I really felt bad for and connected with Troy. He uprooted his life in Colorado and moved to Atlanta because Sheila wanted to. Once there, he had trouble finding a job. That made money problems float to the surface. With the other couples in the movie all being well-off, Troy went through feelings of inadequacy and had problems feeling as though he fit in with the rest of the group.

With sequels come the replacements. Yet, this sequel had all the original actors back in their roles. I really appreciate that. I also found it impressive. Each actor brought the same antics from the original back. For those of us that loved Angela, she is crazier this time around. Also, for those of us that cannot stand Janet Jackson’s terrible acting, she brought that back with her. This time around though, I found Sheila to be a bad actress. I do not remember thinking that when I watched the first movie. Making an appearance was Louis Gossett, Jr. and Cicely Tyson. Louis looked old. I know he is over 70, but he looked really old.

Verdict: There was one flaw to this film. There was a shameless cameo at the end that I did not care for. I will not spoil it for anyone. But, I like the actor and respect the actor. I just felt like it almost forces a third movie to be made. If that scene was left off the film, I would say this was better than the original. In the end, I would recommend this movie to anyone that loved the original. To those of you that haven’t seen the first one, why not? Rent it, then go see this one!

Who is the Hairy Man?

I recently got a position with insideSTL.com as a movie critic. I will be posting on there once a week and here the rest of the time. I plan to post links between the sites to increase cross traffic. That means I should post 1 new review a week, at least!